Rock & Roll is Open Source

Someone I respect greatly once said that ‘Linux will be the last OS.’ Perhaps he meant it literally, perhaps that no matter what comes along, someone somewhere will try to adapt it into the Linux kernel or driver set. It occurs to me that the same applies to rock music. No matter what new trend comes along, somone puts a pounding 4/4 time underneath it, breaks down the guitar licks, and bingo– folk rock, rock opera, rap rock, and even “That stupid punk rock“.

This isn’t such a big revelation, but just something to think about next time people write off Open Source Software– it’ll be around for a while. Sure, the skins will change, and the emphasis will move around, but the kernels will always be there: Linux, Postgresql, mysql, perl, and yes– vi. People continue to riff off of these core pieces, just like musicians remix the masters

People remix the core bits of open source, and invariably the great riffs make it back into The Canon, only to be recycled and spun off in some new direction. I realize that many of the readers here know this already, but I offer up the analogy to those who have a hard time ‘getting’ open source: it’s rock-n-roll, man. It’s cool, and adapts to whatever the kids are into these days.